Swinburne is an innovative education institution that provides quality career-oriented education. Our strong technological base and links with industry are complemented by innovative research centres and strong international partnerships. Swinburne has programs for learners at every level, from vocational training through to PhDs, with pathway opportunities that allow students to achieve their personal best education outcome.
Supernovae are the brilliant, explosive deaths of stars. For a short time, these explosions can outshine an entire galaxy containing billions of stars. A recently discovered rare class of supernovae, termed…
A cat, or the superposition of an inordinate number of wave functions?
Blind Hen ⁑ Blind Höna
Whenever I see angry mobs reacting to the destruction of religious books it makes me think of Schrödinger, iPads and how we should interpret fundamentalist religious teachings in the digital era. The brilliant…
The Gillard government has a long road ahead of it to enact the recommendations of the Asian Century White Paper.
AAP/Paul Miller
Ken Henry’s team has provided a detailed and useful blueprint for future action in the Australia in the Asian Century White Paper. But the government will need to ramp up its domestic efforts to improve…
Trichotillomania, where individuals pull out their hair, has long been considered a mental disorder, but where does it fit in the DSM-5?
Tigresblanco
MATTERS OF THE MIND – a series which examines the clinician’s bible for diagnosing mental disorders, the DSM, and the controversy surrounding the forthcoming fifth edition. Trichotillomania is a psychological…
The inclusion of hoarding on the DSM-5 will drive an integrated response to this complex problem.
Hoarding Grap Wikimedia Commons
MATTERS OF THE MIND – a series which examines the clinician’s bible for diagnosing mental disorders, the DSM, and the controversy surrounding the forthcoming fifth edition. We’ve all got boxes of old letters…
The mechanisms that make some fish hard to see could be used in next-generation electronics.
mattieb
Imagine setting up mirrors in a circle around you, the shiny sides all facing outwards to reflect your surroundings. To the casual observer you would appear to be “invisible”, blending into the environment…
Online platforms need to be well-designed if they’re going to help students learn.
Online image from www.shutterstock.com
FUTURE OF HIGHER EDUCATION: We continue our series on the rise of online and blended learning and how free online courses are set to transform the higher education sector. In the final part of our series…
Gillard gave a flawless performance.
AAP/Lukas Coch
As the fallout from Julia Gillard’s speech on Tuesday afternoon dies down, I find myself watching the footage again and again. While her words were compelling, the sting in the Prime Minister’s performance…
Opposition communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull has stepped up his criticism of proposed new media regulation.
AAP
Opposition communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull is overlooking critical issues of diversity and public interest in dismissing the need for further media regulation, say media experts. Mr Turnbull…
Battle of the smartphones: the Apple iPhone IV and the Samsung Galaxy II .
AAP
Don’t worry — you’re not seeing double. Everything looks the same … well, certainly in mass market products such as consumer electronics. The high profile litigation between Apple and Samsung is just one…
Ever wonder why Australians spend half a billion dollars a year on something that comes from the tap?
slinky2000
Water is just water, right? To some, yes, but many consumers spend inordinate amounts of time considering which brand they should buy and are willing to pay many times more than the price of humble tap…
Public housing never used to be the centre of disadvantage. What changed?
Dean Lewins
A good job, like where you get like heaps of money. I’d be like a decent mum, like a husband with no violence and everything, so it could be a happy family, you know, but like that would never happen…
Is Gerry Harvey feeling the heat over his online retail strategy - or are his comments simply a reflection of playing to several audiences?
AAP
Gerry Harvey is great media talent. When I first became interested in online retail, I almost immediately became interested in Gerry. As far back as 2000, Gerry told ninemsn on a live chat forum “that…
With students already avoiding the lecture hall in favour of online class recordings, Australian universities are scrambling to improve online teaching capabilities.
Danny Munnerley
The University of Queensland has become the latest institution to embrace open online learning, committing to offer up to 12 courses in a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) format over the next two years…
Australians love shopping online: so retailers must get to grips with the concept.
AAP
Scott Ewing, Swinburne University of Technology and Julian Thomas, Swinburne University of Technology
Australians are among the most enthusiastic online shoppers in the world. Our most recent survey, published in the CCi Digital Futures report, The Internet in Australia 2012, has found a quarter of Australian…
NBN Co chairman Harrison Young says too few Australians have access to reliable high-speed broadband.
AAP
Affordability of broadband and encouraging its use by people with low incomes is a major issue for the National Broadband Network, say researchers from Swinburne University who have been researching the…
The closure of BlueScope’s no 6 Blast Furnace at Port Kembla was an acknowledgement that Australia simply cannot compete with our cheaper Asian rivals.
The $1 billion dollar annual loss announced by BlueScope Steel confirmed what is common knowledge: the Australian steel industry is in crisis and fighting for survival. The latest statistics show that…
A former mortgage broker - who is now facing fraud charges - has blown the whistle on predatory lending practices in Australia’s financial services industry.
Image from www.shutterstock.com
The level of sub-prime mortgages in Australia may be far in advance of what was previously assumed and provided for by banks. The story was broken on the ABC, and covered elsewhere. The revelations centred…
Imagine a magic prism for the entire range of electromagnetic waves.
TORLEY
Visible light forms part of the electromagnetic spectrum. So do emissions from TV and radio transmitters, mobile phones and the energy inside microwave ovens. The X-rays used in diagnostic imaging and…
Offering rewards for medal-winning performances didn’t help Australia’s swimming team.
AAP Image/Dean Lewins
Three weeks before the Olympics, Swimming Australia imposed a new “high-performance” funding model on its swimmers, reportedly to “see medallists rewarded”. The timing made it difficult, even unpatriotic…
Professor of Media and Communication and Associate Investigator, ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making + Society, Swinburne University of Technology